Vancouver 4/20 Draws Smoky Cloud of 15,000

The Prince of Pot was no doubt the main attraction in front of a hometown crowd as an estimated 15,000 marijuana enthusiasts gathered in downtown Vancouver to celebrate the bud.

Marijuana activist Marc Emery started the 4/20 event in Vancouver 20 years ago and it’s become a mix of rejoicing in cannabis culture and campaigning for the legalization of marijuana in Canada. It culminates with the crowd lighting up at 4:20 p.m.

Plumes of smoke that rose into the sunny downtown sky could be seen all day long, as vendors — selling everything from popcorn to pot-laced brownies — and organizers began setting up for the event in the morning.

Only 200 people showed up for the first 4/20 in Victory Square in 1995 but crowd size is not the only thing that’s changed.